Wang Lijun, the Chinese police chief who blew the whistle on the murder of
Neil Heywood, toppling one of China's most prominent political families, has
been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A court in Chengdu found Wang Lijun, 52, the former chief policeman of Chongqing, guilty of attempting to cover up the crime, defection, illegal wiretapping and corruption.

A panel of three judges said Mr Wang would have to serve 15 years in prison.

Mr Wang will not appeal the charges, according to China Central Television (CCTV), China's state broadcaster.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph after the sentencing, Mr Wang's lawyer, Wang Yuncai, raised the possibility that her client may seek some sort of medical parole.

"I cannot say how many years he will serve," she said. "If he gets the chance to go to a hospital for a serious illness then there is no minimum sentence that he will have to serve." She declined to comment further.

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Mr Wang appeared in rosy health at his trial, and clips of him giving evidence, dressed not in the standard orange boiler suit of Chinese prisoners but in a crisp white shirt, were broadcast on national television.

However, one diplomatic source suggested in the run-up to his trial that he was in poor physical and mental health.

A psychiatrist who knew Mr Wang in Chongqing also said he exhibited "clear signs of mental disturbance" in the days before he fled to the US consulate in February.

Mr Wang could have received the death penalty for the charges that were laid against him.

Instead, he was given nine years for accepting some £300,000 of bribes, seven years for his role in covering up Mr Heywood's murder, two years for defection and two years for running the illegal wiretaps.

However, some of the sentences will run concurrently, and Mr Wang will be "deprived of his political rights", essentially removing him from all political positions and banning him from speaking freely.

The court appears to have balanced Mr Wang's attempted defection with his cooperation with the investigation and his help in bringing down Bo Xilai, the former politburo member who ran Chongqing.

"With such a political aspect to it, you cannot judge this case solely on a legal basis," said Pi Yijun, a law professor at China's Law and Political Science university.

"The sentence took into account his evidence on Bo's case, and also the likely reaction of the public. The general public liked Wang and the campaigns he ran, which hit at the mafia. It was mostly intellectuals who were unhappy with him because of the illegal way he went about his job," he added.

Meanwhile, Hu Shuli, the high-profile editor of Caixin, one of China's leading news magazines, wrote in a scathing editorial that the case showed how police officers in Chongqing competed to cover up the crime for their political masters.

"Wang was wise to conduct further investigations over Heywood’s death and keep key evidence. He had no other choice but to enter the US consulate and seek asylum.

"When mafia members break up with their bosses, they can attempt to seek police protection. But in Chongqing and for the former police boss, there was nowhere to turn. And this perhaps encapsulates one of the greatest embarrassments of the country’s current legal system," she wrote.

It was during his 33 or so hours inside the US consulate in Chengdu in February that Mr Wang passed details of the Neil Heywood case to diplomats.

An official account from Mr Wang's trial also states that Mr Bo, who has been suspended from his party positions, was told about his wife's involvement on January 28. He could now face criminal charges for covering up the crime.

Mrs Gu was handed a suspended death sentence in August which is almost certain to be commuted to life in prison.

Mr Bo's downfall was the biggest political scandal to hit China in at least three decades and comes just before a once-in-a-decade leadership transition that will see an overhaul at the top of the Communist party.